BUDC wants city funds to complete Ellicott St. upgrades

by chocieni

Tue, Jul 31st 2012 12:00 am

The last phase of a dramatic transformation of a stretch of Ellicott Street
that cuts through the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is poised to be completed.

The Buffalo Urban Development Corp. has recommended that Buffalo Mayor Byron
Brown include $750,000 in his capital budget funds to complete the $6.4
million makeover of a portion of Ellicott Street that runs between Goodell and
Best streets. The money will cover several improvements, including adding some
new plantings and irrigation systems to give the street a more park-like
ambiance.

The BUDC directors unanimously made their recommendation during their July
31 meeting.

Ellicott Street has already seen a number of upgrades in recent years, part
of a conversion into two-way traffic and the development of a small park.
Ellicott Street is considered one of the major thoroughfares for the one
million patients who visit one of the medical facilities in the Buffalo Niagara
Medical Campus and the 17,000 workers in the campus.

"It is a gateway corridor," said David
Stebbins, Buffalo Urban Development Corp. vice president. "Not only is it
the central artery of the medical campus, it connects with a lot of existing
infrastructure."